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Davis Signs Number of Health-Related Bills

Gov. Gray Davis (D) recently has signed a number of health-related bills, descriptions of which are provided below.

AB 236: Sponsored by Assembly member Rudy Bermudez (D-Los Angeles), the law prohibits an individual who is required to register with the police as a sex offender from becoming a California licensed surgeon or physician and requires that the Medical Board of California revoke the license of any person who becomes subject to the registration (Office of the Governor release, 9/18).

AB 936: Sponsored by Assembly member Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno), the law attempts to reduce the number of infant abductions by making it a misdemeanor to enter and stay in a maternity ward, hospital birthing center or neonatal unit if the person does not have lawful business there(Office of the Governor release, 9/18).

AB 528: Sponsored by Assembly member Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco), the law encourages licensed residential care facilities for the elderly that serve residents with dementia to increase outdoor activities in appropriate weather to decrease the effects of "sundowning." Sundowning is defined in the law as a condition in which people with cognitive impairment continually experience confusion, disorientation and increasing levels of agitation that coincide with the onset of late afternoon or early evening.

AB 1220: Sponsored by Assembly member Patty Berg (D-Eureka), the law requires the Department of Health Services to convene a Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force with funds exclusively from foundations and other private sources.

AB 1241: Sponsored by Assembly member Nicole Parra (D-Hanford), the measure creates the Associate Degree Nursing Pilot Program, which will provide scholarships and loans to students in counties that demonstrate the most need.

AB 1371: Sponsored by Assembly member Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), the law requires disclosure of a material financial stake or interest of $10,000 or more on written informed consent forms and increases fines for researchers who fail to obtain proper informed consent. It also mandates that surrogate decision-makers base approval of participation in clinical trials on "substituted judgment" in accordance with the person's wishes and health care instructions.

SB 112: Sponsored by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), the law transfers the responsibility of establishing and maintaining the Organ and Tissue Donor Registry from the Health and Human Services Agency to a not-for-profit entity created by federally authorized and regulated Organ Procurement Organizations (Office of the Governor release, 9/18).

SB 151: Sponsored by Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco), the law eliminates a requirement that all prescriptions for Schedule II substances be written on triplicate forms in favor of a controlled substance form that is forgery and counterfeit-proof and is approved by the Board of Pharmacy (Office of the Governor release, 9/20).

SB 322: Sponsored by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), the law will start a process to establish ethical and legal standards to regulate stem cell research (Ingram, Los Angeles Times, 9/25). The law requires guidelines to be in place by 2005, according to Reuters.

SB 771: Also sponsored by Ortiz, the law establishes a statewide registry of embryos that are available to scientists for stem cell research -- the first such registry in the nation, according to Reuters (Tanner, Reuters, 9/24).

SB 798: Sponsored by Sen. Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), the law redefines entities eligible to be licensed from "a health care service plan licensed under the laws of Mexico" to a "prepaid health plan operating lawfully under the laws of Mexico." Under the law, if an HMO stops operating legally in Mexico, the Department of Managed Health Care must deliver written notification to the HMO that it must either comply with Mexican law or become licensed in California as an HMO. If the HMO does not comply, the DMHC will be required to order the HMO to stop operating in California.

SB 1081: Sponsored by the Committee on Heath and Human Services, the law eliminates the DHS Donor Deferral Registry for blood banks and requirements associated with it. Blood banks and plasma centers will continue to test human blood and plasma for viral hepatitis and HIV and will report all hepatitis infections to the local health officer (Office of the Governor release, 9/18).

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